Chapter 3: THE INNOCENT PERCEPTION

VII. Creating versus the Self-Image

1 Every system
of thought must have a starting point. It begins with either a making
or a creating, a difference we have already discussed. Their
resemblance lies in their power as foundations. Their difference lies
in what rests upon them. Both are cornerstones for systems of belief
by which one lives. It is a mistake to believe that a thought system
based on lies is weak. Nothing made by a child of God is without
power. It is essential to realize this, because otherwise you will be
unable to escape from the prison you have made.

2 You cannot
resolve the authority problem by depreciating the power of your mind.
To do so is to deceive yourself, and this will hurt you because you
really understand the strength of the mind. You also realize that you
cannot weaken it, any more than you can weaken God. The
"devil" is a frightening concept because he seems to be
extremely powerful and extremely active. He is perceived as a force
in combat with God, battling Him for possession of His creations. The
devil deceives by lies, and builds kingdoms in which everything is in
direct opposition to God. Yet he attracts men rather than repels
them, and they are willing to "sell" him their souls in
return for gifts of no real worth. This makes absolutely no
sense.

3 We have
discussed the fall or separation before, but its meaning must be
clearly understood. The separation is a system of thought real enough
in time, though not in eternity. All beliefs are real to the
believer. The fruit of only one tree was "forbidden" in the
symbolic garden. But God could not have forbidden it, or it could not
have been eaten. If God knows His children, and I assure you
that He does, would He have put them in a position where their own
destruction was possible? The "forbidden tree" was named
the "tree of knowledge." Yet God created knowledge and gave
it freely to His creations. The symbolism here has been given many
interpretations, but you may be sure that any interpretation that
sees either God or His creations as capable of destroying Their Own
purpose is in error.

4 Eating of
the fruit of the tree of knowledge is a symbolic expression for
usurping the ability for self-creating. This is the only sense in
which God and His creations are not co-creators. The belief that they
are is implicit in the "self-concept," or the tendency of
the self to make an image of itself. Images are perceived, not known.
Knowledge cannot deceive, but perception can. You can perceive
yourself as self-creating, but you cannot do more than believe it.
You cannot make it true. And, as I said before, when you finally
perceive correctly you can only be glad that you cannot. Until then,
however, the belief that you can is the foundation stone in your
thought system, and all your defenses are used to attack ideas that
might bring it to light. You still believe you are an image of your
own making. Your mind is split with the Holy Spirit on this point,
and there is no resolution while you believe the one thing that is
literally inconceivable. That is why you cannot create and are filled
with fear about what you make.

5 The mind can
make the belief in separation very real and very fearful, and this
belief is the "devil." It is powerful, active,
destructive and clearly in opposition to God, because it literally
denies His Fatherhood. Look at your life and see what the devil has
made. But realize that this making will surely dissolve in the light
of truth, because its foundation is a lie. Your creation by God is
the only Foundation that cannot be shaken, because the light is in
it. Your starting point is truth, and you must return to your
Beginning. Much has been seen since then, but nothing has really
happened. Your Self is still in peace, even though your mind is in
conflict. You have not yet gone back far enough, and that is why you
become so fearful. As you approach the Beginning, you feel the fear
of the destruction of your thought system upon you as if it were the
fear of death. There is no death, but there is a belief in
death.

6 The branch
that bears no fruit will be cut off and will wither away. Be glad!
The light will shine from the true Foundation of life, and your own
thought system will stand corrected. It cannot stand otherwise. You
who fear salvation are choosing death. Life and death, light and
darkness, knowledge and perception, are irreconcilable. To believe
that they can be reconciled is to believe that God and His Son can
not. Only the oneness of knowledge is free of conflict. Your
kingdom is not of this world because it was given you from beyond
this world. Only in this world is the idea of an authority problem
meaningful. The world is not left by death but by truth, and truth
can be known by all those for whom the Kingdom was created, and for
whom it waits.